Rewards Network

One of the easiest ways you can earn airmiles is by dining at various restaurants that participate in the Rewards Network program. There are 11 or 12 airlines that participate in the program. They include American Airlines, British Airways, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and U. S. Airways. Each airline has a link to their particular program. You click on that link and you follow the directions on activating your account. Once you're enrolled, you can earn airmiles at participating restaurants. However, please check the program website to make sure the restaurant you want to dine at that day is offering airmiles. Restaurants can vary in how many airmiles they offer each day. There can also be limits on how many airmiles you can earn at a participating restaurant ex. Remomo's in Arundel Mills Mall, Maryland has a limit of 600 dollars per month. What that means is that you can earn airmiles on your total purchases there up to 600 dollars each month. You won't earn any of any purchases over that amount.

The program has three tiers. The first tier is for those who don't enroll through any airline program. The person dines out between 1 and 3 times a year and will receive 1 airmile per dollar spent at participating restaurants. The second tier is for people who enroll through an airline program or who dine out between 4 and 11 times per year. The member earns 3 airmiles per dollar spent. The program offers some bonus mile opportunities at this tier. Bonus opportunities are offers where the member can earn additional airmiles through promotions the participating restaurant is offering. The third tier is for those who dine out 12 plus times per year. The member earns 5 airmiles per dollar spent. The member also has the best chances for bonus miles ex. at Tier 3, I can earn 5 airmiles through the program and I receive an additional 5 bonus airmiles per dollar spent. Plus, I can receive additional bonus miles depending on the restaurant. I've seen some deals where I could earn as many as 20 airmiles per dollar spent. There is one catch with the tier levels. If you want to remain at tier 2, you must dine at participating restaurants between 4 and 11 times each year. If you want to remain at tier 3, you must dine a minimum of 12 times per year. I find myself in the predicament where I'll have to dine at participating restaurants 23 times in the next month and a half in order to keep my tier 3 status in the British Airways and Northwest Airlines programs. You can expect to see some restaurant reviews in the future on my blog.

The program has some very nice features. One, when you dine at a participating restaurant, you don't have to show any special membership card or tell them you are a member of the program. All you have to do is make sure you use a credit card you registered with the program. Second, airmiles are automatically deposited in your frequent flier account in 6 to 8 weeks. Third, each airline has a website where you can find out what restaurants are participating in the program. The website tells how many airmiles the restaurants are offering as well as maps which show you how to get to the restaurants. NOTE: You should check the website to make sure the restaurant you want to dine at is still in the program. The program adds and drops restaurants every month. If you don't check, you may not earn any airmiles when you dine out. I know this rule from personal experience.

Overall, the program makes it pretty easy to earn a lot of airmiles with your frequent flier program. Also, I've found the restaurants that participate in the program to be consistently good. The program has thousands of participating restaurants throughout the U.S. In my opinion, it's an excellent program and an easy way to earn yourself an upgrade or free ticket.

Disclaimer: FYI, I don't work for the Rewards Network and I haven't received any kind of remuneration for this blog entry. All opinions are my own. I do belong to the British Airways and Northwest Airlines dining programs. I've been a member of the British Airways program since 1997. Because of that, I feel I'm qualified to make some judgements on the program.

Col. R. B. Thieme Jr.

I checked the R. B. Thieme Jr. Bible Ministries webpage today. I was wondering how Colonel Thieme was doing. For all effective purposes, Colonel Thieme has been my pastor for over 11 years now. I don't go to church as I haven't found one near where I live that I like. Plus, I've found it very convenient to listen to Colonel Thieme's bible doctrine tapes. Listening to the tapes, I can go to church anytime I want. Also, I feel the tapes have done a lot for me. They've helped me get through a number of crices in my life. Colonel Thieme himself was something of a character. He was very much a straight shooter who wasn't afraid to pull any punches. Now sadly, he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. My heart goes out to his family. It has to be hard to deal with a loved one who increasingly can't even remember who you are. It also saddens me because he was such a vibrant man. He was so full of life and so driven in teaching the bible. I'll never forget the bible conference I got to go where I got to see him in person. It was really something. I wonder why God struck him with Alzheimer's. He was such a great pastor-teacher and he helped so many advance spiritually. It doesn't seem right in some ways. Oh well, as Thieme would say, God's plan is perfect so we must trust in him. I hope God has granted peace to Colonel Thieme in these twilight years of his life. He certainly deserves it after all the years he worked so hard for God and his plan.

Work

It's been over a week now since I got back to work. It's been both good and bad. I've enjoyed playing castle guard at Medieval Times. It's fun to put on the costume. I also try to do what I can to make it enjoyable experience for every customer I come in contact with. If a customer wants to take my picture, I'm always willing to give my best pose. I also gladly stand by them if they want to do a group picture. I also try to get better at working the spotlight. I try to keep it on whoever I have to spotlight no matter where they're moving which can be challenging. I've been lucky that I have a nice boss in S&L. After being late last Saturday, I'm making a special effort to keep him informed of my work schedule at the Post Office.

Post Office wise, I finished learning rural route 7 this week. The route is interesting in that it is a combination of routes. It has 10 condominiums, 5 kiosks and a mounted part where the carrier delivers to 200 plus homes. The easiest part of the route is the mounted part. For the most part, you never have to leave the truck. You can drive right up to the mail box, open it, take out any outgoing mail, put in the incoming mail, close the box and drive to the next box. The bad part of the route is that there are a lot of deliveries on the route. It's rated at something like 8.8 hours which means it will likely take me 12 plus hours to do it. Aargh!!!!!

I've enjoyed delivering Express Mail at the Post Office. It's a challenge to get it all delivered by noon. The only downside to Express Mail is the hours. The person who does express can figure on working no more than 3 hours. That's better than nothing but it isn't that great.

Working at SHARE wise, I haven't been able to. Worse still, because of my lack of reliability because of my jobs at the Post Office and Medieval Times, they've turned to a temporary hire who by all accounts is doing a good job. I wish I could work more there but it just hasn't been possible. I suspect I'm going to have to let this job go. They need someone who they can depend on to be there every day and I'm not that person.

Airline Credit Cards

Recently, I found out that I was approved for an airline credit card that I applied for. As I try to think of at least somewhat interesting things to blog about, I thought I'd write a blog entry about airline credit cards. With the new credit card I'll be receiving soon, I'll have had four airline credit cards so I feel I know a little about them. Airline credit cards can be useful in helping the consumer earn airmiles for things they would've bought anyway or they can be a waste of money. It depends on how much you use the card. I remember reading an article in the Smarter Travel email I receive every week. The author whose name I can't remember recommended that if you are going to have an airline credit card, you should use THAT card for all your credit card purchases. The author had a valid point. If you charge $3,000 or $4,000 worth or merchandise and services on your airline credit card in a year then, it can be worth the $55 or higher fee you'll have to pay every year. If you don't then, it is a waste of money and a bit of a rip-off. Case in point, I had an American Airlines AAdvantage credit card. The card cost me $85 a year. I only used it 3 or 4 times a year and never charged more than $500 in an entire year. Why is that a rip-off? Because in effect, I paid $85 for 500 airmiles. You can get a much better deal buying the airmiles from the airline vice paying that. This is why it is so important that if you are going to have an airline credit card that, you use it extensively as long as you don't get yourself into massive debt doing so. The more airmiles you earn while using the card, the better deal the card is. There is one catch here. Hopefully, you'll be able to use all those airmiles you're accumulating. As I previously blogged about, in some cases, it is getting harder to get free seats or upgrades using your airmiles. A number of airlines are making it easier than ever to earn airmiles. This is great for them in generating business but it is bad for the traveller as it means there is greater competition for the limited number of free seats and upgrades. Airmiles are worthless if you can't use them when you want. There are travel credit cards that can get you seats on any airline you want. As I don't have any experience trying to get a ticket with one of those credit cards, I don't feel I'm qualified to comment on those cards.

In conclusion, airline credit cards can be a nice way to earn free travel providing you use them extensively. As the unnamed author at Smarter Travel recommended, if you are going to have an airline credit card, you should pick one airline and use their card solely. The more airmiles you earn in a year using the card, the better the deal the card is. If you're not going to use an airline credit card a lot, you'll want to find one that doesn't have a yearly fee. There are a few out there that don't charge a yearly fee. However, most airline credit cards do charge a yearly fee of between $55 and $85 a year. Bon voyage!

Hansen's versus Shasta's Root Beer

This is a review of Hansen's root beer which is sold at Trader Joe's supermarkets and how it compares with Shasta's root beer.

As previously blogged, I bought a six-pack of Hansen's root beer at the Trader Joes supermarket in Annapolis. Hansen's root beer has some immediate advantages. For starters, they don't insert caffeine to give an artificial energy boost. Second, they don't use any preservatives. Their root beer is totally natural. Lastly, it is sodium free. This can be of concern to someone who is watching their blood pressure. In terms of taste, Hansen's has a good smooth root beer taste. It also isn't heavily carbonated so you're getting a decent amount of root beer instead of a lot of fizz. In comparison to Shasta's root beer, Shasta also has no caffeine and no sodium. Shasta does use potassium benzoate as a preservative. So far as I know, I've never suffered any ill effects from that preservative. In terms of cost, Shasta is 2 cents cheaper an ounce than Hansen's. You can also get Shasta in bigger containers such as a 2 liter plastic bottle. So far as I know, you can only get Hansen's in 12 ounce aluminum cans. As far as I know, Shasta's plastic bottles and Hansen't aluminum cans are both recyclable.

So which is the better root beer? Taste wise, I think they're about equal. Price wise, Shasta wins in that category. However, Hansen's is probably the better root beer for you in that there aren't any chemicals in it. Another disadvantage to Hansen's is that you'd have to drive to Trader Joes to get it. Depending on where you live, this can be a bit of a hassle as in my case. Conversely, there are plenty of stores that sell Shasta soda. So, in my opinion, I have to give the nod to Shasta. It beats out Hansen's in terms of price and ease of purchasing. Still, when I'm at Trader Joes, I'm going to make sure I pick up a couple six-packs of Hansen's. I think the fewer preservatives and other chemicals we put in our bodies the better. Cheers!

Back to Work

I got back to work at Medieval Times and the Post Office. Wednesday, I worked as a castle guard and spotlight operator at Medieval Times. To my relief, I did a fine job. The only annoying thing was the restriction I have concerning ladders. Right now, I'm not allowed to climb any ladders. The surgeon didn't want to take any chances with me pulling out the stitches. Because of that, I couldn't get to the spotlight platform. My boss in sound & lighting figured a way to solve that problem. He used one of the lifts we use to work on lights and the sound system. Using the lift, I was able to get to the spotlight platform without climbing. I was sorry to have to put him out like that but I'm very leery about disobeying the surgeon. I want to heal up properly and get back to normal.

Concerning the Post Office, yesterday I delivered express mail. Express mail is mail sent in specially marked large envelopes which has to be delivered by Noon. The Post Office promises to have it delivered to the receiving address by Noon the next day or the sender gets their money back. Because of the money back promise, the person who delivers express mail has to make sure they get all of them delivered by Noon. Depending on the number, this can be easy or impossible. Yesterday, I was given 15 express mail envelopes and packages. The delivery locations were all over town. There was no way I was going to deliver all those by Noon. My Post Office supervisor realized this and had me take only the ones for areas I've delivered the mail. That left with me with seven packages and envelopes. Thanks to me knowing the delivery area, I had no problem making the deadline. I was able to organize the deliveries to where I could take the most efficient route to deliver them. The only drawback to delivering express mail is that carrier can typically work just 3 hours at most. As I'm on a lifting restriction until November 15th, it's better than not working at all. Plus, it does give me a chance to learn my way around Laurel better. I know some parts of it pretty well. Other parts, I don't know at all. The reason for that is because I don't have any need to drive through those parts. Delivering express mail, I have to learn the various parts of Laurel. This can help me in the long run with the Post Office because I'll be able to deliver to more areas for them.

I was glad to get back to work. Money wise, I'm fine but I like having a paycheck coming in. I still want to do that Scandanavia tour next year and the only way I'm going to able to afford that is if I'm working. So, I was glad to get back to the grind. As long as I'm careful and follow the surgeon's orders, I shouldn't have any problems working.

Hospital Bill Shock

Yesterday, I received a summary of charges from Laurel Regional Hospital for my 1 day and 19 hour stay. I confess I am truly stunned by what my short hospitalization cost. My semi-private room cost $633 a day! I have never stayed in a more expensive place in my life. The IVs and antibiotics they gave me cost a whopping $2,100! My chest x-rays were a bargain at $153. The ultra-sound they used to determine I had gall stones cost a respectable $306. I got out cheap on the heart monitoring equipment. That only cost $19. The entire bill came to a mind-boggling $5,876! Next time, I get really sick, I'll tell them to take me to Walter Reed Army Hospital or Bethesda Naval Hospital. I had no idea civilian healthcare cost so much. Thankfully, the Air Force offered me a very good retiree medical health plan. If my understanding is right, my part of the bill will be just $50. If that is the case, I'm going to write an extreme thank you note to Federal Health Services. I'll also count my blessings that I did make the Air Force a career. I enjoyed my time in the service and it looks like I'll enjoy my life as a military retiree thanks to the service. I'll definitely have a lot more peace of mind since I won't have to worry about catastrophic medical bills.

Annapolis Mall

On my list of things to do yesterday was visit Annapolis Mall (also know as Westfield Annapolis). I've gone by this mall a couple of times but I'd never stopped by and checked it out. Here are my opinions on this mall.

Annapolis Mall is a large single level in-door air conditioned multi-store mall. According to its website (http://www.westfield.com/annapolis/), it has 270 stores and restaurants. The mall is conveniently located in that it is just off Interstate-50 and close to Interstate-97. It has plenty of parking (over 3,400 according to the website). Sears, J.C. Penney's and Nordstrom serve as its anchor stores. It is open 10 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 to 6 p.m. on Sundays. It has a free Wi-Fi hotspot so you if you have Wi-Fi capable laptop, you can surf the web for free there (I didn't try that during my visit).

Annapolis Mall seemed very much a run of the mill single level mall. There was nothing exciting or unique about this mall. It does offer a large number of shops including some of the top names such as Banana Republic, Coach, Godiva and Lord & Taylor which can be convenient shopping wise. I bought the 2007 Lord of the Rings and 2007 Zits boxed calendars at one of the Day by Day Calendar Company kiosks. These are the two calendars I make sure I get every year. I like seeing the pictures from the Lord of the Rings movies and I find the comic strip Zits very funny. One downside about buying calendars right now at Day by Day is that you will pay list price. As I remember, around New Year's, they heavily discount their remaining calendars. Border's Bookstore has a nice store here. I stopped by to see if they had a copy of Foreign Affairs magazine. Sadly, the article I was interested must've been in the September/October issue. I tried an Italian strawberry ice at Vaccaro's. I thought it was all right. I was very disappointed by their gelato selection. They only had four flavors to choose from. Lastly, I visited the Today's Pet store. I wanted to see if they had any Pug puppies I could drool over. Sadly, they didn't. They did have a very impressive aquarium with a number of anemone and four pretty tropical fish.

Overall, I wasn't wiped out by this mall. It isn't anything I'd make a special trip for. It does have some nice shops. Westfield, the company that owns and runs the mall has a handy website where you can find if they have a particular shop you want to buy something from. Another aspect I liked about this mall was that it was so close to Interstate (I) 50. When I decided to head to Arundel Mills Mall, it was very easy for me to hop on the I-50 and be on my way. As it is out of my way, I don't see myself using it very much. However, if I lived in Annapolis, I probably would. How much you use it depends on where you live. If you don't live close to Annapolis, I wouldn't make any special effort to get to this mall. My next mall report (if you will) will be on Arundel Mills Mall. Stay tuned.

Annapolis Trader Joe's

I wasn't feeling 100% this morning so I decided to do some fun things on my to do list. One of those was check out the Annapolis Trader Joes. I'd heard some where that the Annapolis one was bigger and I wanted to see if it was true. The small size and the tight parking at the Silver Spring Trader Joes were serious turn-offs. To my delight, what I heard about the Annapolis Trader Joes was true. While it won't compare in size to your regular supermarket, it was larger than the Silver Spring store. The Annapolis store also had better parking and a more convenient location. It's only a block from the Annapolis Mall. The store had a larger selection of produce though it isn't close to equaling the produce you can find in a regular supermarket. It does have a good selection of low fat snacks and frozen prepared meals. If you hate cooking, this store will ensure you eat well and right. They also offer natural soda pop and a good selection of spring and mineral waters. They offer a large selection of organic products. It appears that one of Trader Joes niches is in organic products. Their stores are a good place to find a good selection of such products. The bakery section had a nice selection of breads and cakes but you won't find any donuts or pastries. Another plus in terms of baking was that the store carried a good selection of bread mixes. Lastly, the store's staff were very attentive. By the time I got in line to pay for my items, a number of the lines were getting long. One of the store's staff promptly called for all cashiers to come to the front. This resulted in shorter wait times and I'm sure their customers appreciated it.

Overall, I thought the Annapolis Trader Joes was a lot better than the Silver Spring store. I thought it had a better selection of merchandise and was more convenient. The staff was just attentive at the Annapolis store as it was at the Silver Spring store. The store offered a good selection of Trader Joes own brand products. I tried some of their multi-grain crackers and found them fair taste wise. However, if you're counting your calories, you'll like the fact that they put them in 100 calorie bags in the box. They also offer products without all the chemicals we see in some of today's processed food. I was able to buy some beef jerky without Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). MSG is one chemical I hate as it had negative effects on my body. It's very annoying that it is used in so many processed foods. You will pay more for some items at Trader Joes but the flip side is that it is better for you. I bought a bag of their rice sembei crackers. Unlike other rice crackers, these were baked which cut down the amount of saturated fat they'd have in them. I was able to buy a six-pack of Hansen's natural Root Beer. Their root beer doesn't have any caffeine, sodium or preservatives. Trader Joes won't meet all your grocery needs but it does offer healthier foods at fair prices. They're a great place to pick-up a frozen ready prepared meal or healthy snacks for a party. Their website is located at http://www.traderjoes.com. You can use their website to find out if there is a Trader Joes close to you. If not, you might want to keep an eye on their website. Trader Joes is a growing chain and it might not be long before one comes to your part of town.

My Condition

After waiting 11 days, I finally got to see the surgeon who operated on me. I very much wanted to see him so I could find out what was going to happen. Was I going to be allowed to drive a car again? The past 11 days have royally sucked because I was grounded. The cashier at the local Weis supermarket looked at me strangely when I started putting the groceries I'd bought in my backpack. I explained to her I wasn't allowed to drive because of a recent operation. I was interested to find out what was going to happen work wise. Could I go back to work? What would I be barred from doing till I was fully healed? All these questions ran through my head as I drove down to his office. To my dismay, I ended up at the wrong office. Luckily, the surgeon's office wasn't far and I managed to make it with 2 or 3 minutes to spare.

Dr. Daee was as nice as he'd been when I met him the night in the emergency room at Laurel Regional Hospital. He examined my scars, asked what I'd been eating, asked how I was feeling, what medications I was taking and what my various jobs entailed. He decided I could drive again and do light work until November 15th. I'm barred from lifting anything heavy and I'm not allowed to climb any ladders (I have to climb one to get to whatever spotlight I work when doing a show at Medieval Times.) until the 15th. The lifting restriction puts a bar on me delivering mail for the Post Office. The average tray of mail weighs 50 plus pounds and I'll have any where between 4 and 10 of those. So, I'm effectively barred from doing regular mail delivery. That said, I can deliver Express Mail as long as it isn't any heavy packages. It usually isn't. I should be able to work at SHARE as long as I don't lift anything. I plan to go in there tomorrow and help out.

Overall, I'm doing well. They took the bandages off at Dr. Daee's office and I appear to be healing fine. I plan to take it slow and make sure I get plenty of rest. I don't want any complications to arise because I pushed too hard too soon. I helped out Clinton for about 2 hours with his mail because he asked and he is one of the nicest people at the Post Office. It went fine. I plan to go to the Medieval Times Halloween party and auction tonight for an hour or so. I want people to see I'm still a member of the living and I'm recovering well. I should get back to work at Medieval Times Wednesday. That's all the news for now on how I'm doing.

Icelandair Airlines

Next year, I hope to get to fly Icelandair Airlines to Copenhagen. That's where the Globus tour I hope to take begins. I've only flown Icelandair twice. About 3 or 4 years ago, I decided to do a quick holiday in Reykjavik. Icelandair Holidays offers some very nice package deals. For $540, I got round-trip airfare, airport transfers, two nights in a 3-star hotel (the Loftleidir), single supplement (the price of being single and travelling alone) and breakfast for 2 days. I found the airline itself to be a very nice airline. I found out that they offer some very cheap airfares to Europe. In my case, if I fly Icelandair, I can save at least $200 flying them to London vice British Airways. The downside to flying Icelandair is that it takes longer. All flights to Europe go through Reykjavik. You'll fly there, change planes and fly on to where ever you're going. This can add 3 or 4 hours of travel time. Another downside to Icelandair is that they don't serve all the capitals of Europe. They don't offer any flights to Rome, Brussels, Dublin, Praque or Vienna. They also offer limited service to the U.S. They only fly from Boston, New York City, Minneapolis/St.Paul, Baltimore and Orlando via Sanford International Airport. I've heard that they sometimes offer flights out of San Francisco but so far this appears to be a seasonal offering. Still, they are a really good and affordable airline. They offer the best service to Iceland (no surprise there huh?). Iceland itself is a fascinating country filled with very kind people. Some parts of it looked like the moon to me. There are areas where you can see its volcanic heritage. Iceland produces all its electricity from geothermal power. The naturally hot water is piped up from the ground and used to produce electricity. Iceland offers some outstanding horseback riding adventures. I got to do a 90 minute ride and it was awesome. I hope to take my mom Kay there some time so we can do some horseback riding there. They also have a man-made lagoon where you can go and soak in 102-degree water year round. It's supposed to be very good for your skin. If you're into whale watching, Iceland offers one of the few places where you can actually get to see blue whales. Blue whales are the largest creatures in the entire planet. They can grow up to 98 feet in length and weigh as much as 198 tons (Source: Wikipedia). The best time to go to Iceland is during the summer when it's warmest. Shopping wise, the best bargains to be found in Iceland are in Icelandic woolens. They also have some nice duty-free shops but I don't know how much you'd really save there.

Overall, Icelandair is a really nice small international airline. For the places they fly, they offer very affordable service. If you can fly them, they are definitely worth a look. You might also consider taking a holiday through them in Iceland. Iceland itself is a lovely country with plenty to do. It is definitely on my list of places to go back. I look forward to getting to fly Icelandair next August.

Miffed With British Airways

I'm pissed off with British Airways (BA). For years, I've done all kinds of things to earn airmiles with their frequent flier program. I've eaten at various restaurants through their Executive Club dining program. I've bought flowers through various flower clubs. I've rented cars with their car rental associates. Because of all these efforts, I've earned over 443,000 airmiles with them. This past week, I found out that for effective purposes, those 443,000 airmiles are worthless.

As I mentioned previously in this blog, Harvey and I are planning to take a Globus tour of Scandanavia. It should be an absolute blast. One thing that would've made it even nicer and saved us some money is if I could've gotten free First Class tickets with British Airways. I got to fly First Class on British Airways years ago and I never forgot it. It was so cool. I have never been so pampered on an airline like I was then. I stepped on board the plane and they promptly offered me a glass of good champagne. I had my own vcr player and could choose from 42 different movies. My seat folded down into a six foot bed you could actually sleep in. Good luck sleeping in their economy seats. They even gave me a free set of pajamas which I still have. The thought of flying First Class to Copenhagen and back promised to make the tour far more enjoyable. I had no idea how many problems I would have trying to use my airmiles.

The first headache I ran into was trying to fly out of Baltimore Washington International (BWI). I prefer BWI as it's only 20-25 minutes driving from where I live. BA has one daily flight out of there and I thought I'd be able to get free tickets on that flight. No such luck. There weren't any First or Business Class tickets to be had on the dates I needed to fly out. Conversely, if I had been willing to pay $3,500, I could've gotten a seat on the dates I'll be flying out and back. I wasn't amused when I discovered this.

One advantage of living in the Washington D.C. area is that there are other airports I can use. I can fly out of Reagan National and Dulles International. The drawbacks to flying out of those airports is the substantially higher airport shuttle costs. The shuttle costs me approximately $25 each way to BWI. It costs me $75 plus each way to Dulles. Still, if I could've gotten tickets on the dates I needed to fly out and back on, I was willing to do it. A month ago, I could've done it. To my extreme frustration, it seems the limited free seats BA had out of Copenhagen got totally booked up for all four Sundays in September 2007. If I wanted to get a free seat coming back, I would have to spend an extra night in either Oslo or Copenhagen. I was thoroughly pissed off with BA.

Frequent flier programs are supposed to create customer loyalty. I know for years, I made a special effort to fly BA because I wanted the airmiles. However, when I find that all those airmiles that I've collected are of little use to me, I find that the last airline I want to fly is BA. Because of this whole boondoggle, I know I won't be busting my butt to earn airmiles with them. There doesn't seem much point in doing so. From what I've heard this problem isn't unique to BA. When you're flying, you might want to think more about price and convenience and less about the airmile scam. Nowadays, frequent flier programs definitely don't seem the deal they once were. Cheers!

Digital Camera Died

To my great annoyance, my digital camera decided to die. It is very annoying because all the pictures I took of this year's Renaissance Festival were on that camera. I was looking forward to downloading them and posting them on this blog. It also means I have to buy a new one and new digital cameras aren't cheap. After comparing various cameras, I've settled on the Canon EOS-30D. It has a wide choice of lenses, uses a flash card and has a USB 2.0 port so I can easily download pictures to my laptop. The only downside to this camera will be the price for it, a good multi-lense, flash card and battery recharger. I'll likely be looking at over $1,000. Damn. Oh well. Hopefully, this camera will last me a good long time. We'll see.

The Matrix

I watched The Matrix today. I haven't seen it in at least a couple years and I thought it'd be nice to watch it again. It was. The Matrix is still an awesome movie with great special effects, creepy monsters and a fascinating story. It is also the best of the three Matrix movies. While the other Matrix movies have their moments, as a whole the other two don't match up to the first. The first movie was solid the whole way through. The third movie has an absolutely disastrous part in the story where Morpheus is wondering what has happened between the machines and Neo. Morpheus assumes some how Neo has won and everyone starts cheering. I thought that part extremely weak and ridiculous. If you haven't seen any of the Matrix movies, you definitely need to see the first. It is really an awesome movie.

CNN and The "Unvarnished Truth"

I recently heard about CNN showing footage of a terrorist sniper in Iraq shooting and killing either a soldier. The only thing the footage didn't show was the unfortunate soldier's face. Because of this, a California Republican congressman urged the Defense Department to remove all remaining embedded CNN reporters. Why keep them with our troops he urged when they are aiding the enemy? CNN's reply was that they had to show the "unvarnished truth." What a total piece of BS!!!!! This is the same network that wouldn't show the "unvarnished truth" about Saddam Hussein when he was in power in Iraq because they KNEW they'd get their big fat butts kicked out of Iraq in a heartbeat. Also, if CNN is so concerned about showing the "unvarnished truth" about Iraq. Why doesn't CNN show all the good we're doing over there????? Wouldn't that be showing the "unvarnished truth" about the situation there. If they're willing to show our guys getting killed, why don't they show pictures of dead terrorists? Are they AFRAID that would upset their Muslim audience? If that is the case, why aren't they afraid that the sniper pictures would upset our people? I personally don't believe CNN is showing the "unvarnished truth" about Iraq. I've heard too many stories of troops over there who say what is happening is totally different what the so called "main stream" media is showing. I personally hope this disgusting attempt to distort what is happening in Iraq backfires on CNN and costs them more viewers. I know I stopped watching them a while back because I'd become so disgusted with them. I would urge you to do the same.

Turner Pictures Gettysburg

In 1996, Ballantine Press published Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels. The novel tells the story of the battle of Gettysburg. Unlike other Civil War novels, Shaara tells us the thoughts and emotions of a select few soldiers from both the Confederate and U.S. sides. He also very graphically describes the days there that would see Lee's plans of invading the North crushed and put him on the defensive for the rest of the war. The novel was an enormous hit and its movie rights were picked up by Turner Pictures who used the novel to make the movie Gettysburg. These are my impressions of the movie.

The first thing that impressed me about the movie was its excellent cast. Martin Sheen plays General Robert E. Lee, Tom Berenger plans Lieutenant General James Longstreet, Jeff Daniels plays Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and Sam Elliott plays Brigadier General John Buford. The second thing that impressed me about the movie was its attention to detail. The producers faithfully reproduced the uniforms the two sides wore right down to the boots. The result is a movie that succeeds in taking you back to that period in time. Thanks to the novel which was the basis for the movie script, we get to see the thoughts and feelings of a number of critical players in the epic battle.

We see Cavalry General Buford who knew good ground when he saw it and was determined that this time Union forces would have the advantage ground wise. It is Buford that unknowingly picks the site and begins what will be the bloodiest battle ever fought on U.S. soil. We see the great citizen soldier Joshua Chamberlain. A great academic, he had dreams of being a soldier and enlists in the Union Army. At Gettysburg, he showed extraordinary leadership and courage. He plays a critical part in the Union victory. We see General Longstreet who doubting the wisdom of General Lee's plan nonetheless follows it to its bitter end. Lastly, we see the extraordinary bravery of the men who fought on both sides. Chamberlain's men from the state of Maine who stopped the Confederates from gaining Little Round Top and thereby flanking the Union forces and driving them from the heights. We also witness the legendary Pickett's charge. 15,000 men knowingly walked a mile through shot and shell for what they believed in. If valor alone was the thing that won battles, the men of Virginia would have won the battle hands down.

Overall, the movie is superb. It is a must for any Civil War buff. My only complaint with it is that it is 254 minutes long. 254 minutes equates to over 4 hours of sitting on your butt. I don't know about you but, that is a long time for me. To break up that long stretch, I watched the movie in two parts. Considering the normal movie rental is for 3 days at least, you should be able to do this too. Price wise, I don't know what the movie is selling for. If your a Civil War or history buff, I would definitely buy it. You will find a new understanding of the great battle and be touched by what happened there. As I live in Maryland, I don't believe I'm that far from Gettysburg. I hope to visit the battlefield myself someday and see for myself some of the places where its momentous events occurred. God bless.

Music Review

It might be heresy but I can say truthfully, I have never watched American Idol. Why haven't I watched it? Because I don't own a tv. Can't I afford a tv (how poor are you ditto)? Yes, I can afford to buy a tv but, I don't care to own one. I think a lot of the stuff put out these days is junk. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I'm able to get all the latest news I want. Movie wise, I can rent a movie from Blockbuster. I have been tempted to get a tv thanks to all the cool channels offered on cable BUT the price of cable service has done wonders for cooling my desire to be able to watch Fox News, ESPN, A&E and the History channel (a typical case of Ditto cheapness). Still, I have heard of American Idol. It's hard not to considering what a big hit it is. Also, the radio stations have played the music of those who won like that Ruben fellow and those who didn't Clay Aiken (I hope I have that last name right, I don't want to mix it up with the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback). Because of this, when I saw the American Idol Season 5 Encores CD on sale at BMG music club, I decided to buy it and give it a listen. This review is on that CD.

The CD has the following songs:

Melissa McGhee - What About Love
Bucky Covington - Superstition
Mandisa - I'm Every Woman
Chris Daughtry - Wanted Dead Or Alive
Ace Young - Father Figure
Taylor Hicks - Takin It To The Streets
Lisa Tucker - Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)
Kellie Pickler - Walkin' After Midnight
Elliot Yamin - Moody's Mood For Love
Katharine McPhee - Think
Paris Bennett - Midnight Train To Georgia
Kevin Covais - When I Fall In Love

Of the songs available on the CD, I thought the best ones were McGhee's What About Love, Daughtry's Wanted Dead Or Alive,Young's Father Figure with an honorable mention for Mandisa's I'm Every Woman. The only reason I didn't rate Mandisa's work comparable with the others is because I don't care for the song itself. However, I thought she did an excellent version of it.

Concerning McGhee's What About Love, I thought she a very good job with it and sounded a lot like the group HEART however, I'd swear I could hear some country in the lady's voice and at times, it came through.

Daughtry's version of Bonjovi's great hit Wanted Dead Or Alive is great. I heard Daughtry was a true rock singer and it shows in Wanted Dead Or Alive. He gives the song all the intensity it deserves and hammers home every note. It is very comparable to Bonjovi's great work.

Lastly, Young does an equally great job on George Michael's hit Father Figure. His voice is equally smooth and very comparable to Michael's. The song itself is superbly composed and clearly was a good fit with the singer.

I'm not going to do a Simon (forget his last name) and start ripping into the other artists. I just didn't find the other songs as good. I particularly felt that Bennett's version of Georgia came no where close to the great version done by Gladys Knight and the Pips. I also didn't care for Pickler's Walkin' After Midnight though if she was the blond in the contest then, the song suited her looks. I just don't care for that kind of song.

Overall, I thought it was a nice CD. I suspect it would be a must for any American Idol fan. For other music listeners, it depends on what you pay for it. I would be willing to pay $10 for it but I wouldn't pay $20. It isn't THAT good. If you find it on sale, you might want to buy it. If nothing else, you'll get to see if some of the contestants are any good. Based on this CD, some of them clearly are.

Paypal/Ebay

I don't know what it is about Paypal or Ebay but it seems I get an incredible number of scam emails for these two. This blog entry is to warn people about them. The two services are very useful. I've been able to securely pay for items without having to give credit card information via Paypal. I've been able to purchase items I've wanted at considerable savings on Ebay. I also got ripped once on Ebay for $94. Make sure you know Ebay's rules on how they'll help you concerning you failing to get merchandise you were promised. You'll also want to look at the customer satisfaction rating and how many items the seller has sold on Ebay. Someone who has sold a lot of stuff on Ebay isn't likely to run off with your money. Concerning scam emails, Paypal does have a free tool called SafetyBar that you can download that will enable you to forward to them any scam emails you get. They also try to make some money off you by selling an additional spam filter. Fortunately, you don't have to order the spam filter in order to use the scam email tool. The tool is worth having if you use Paypal or Ebay.

Automatic Renewals

Recently, I had two different on-line companies automatically renew their services without me realizing it until I got the bill. That's why I'm posting this blog entry. Please double check the terms of the contract before you order. In the case of Classmates.com, you'll want to remove the automatic renewal. Once they bill you automatically, you can't get your money back with them. Fortunately, it was only $40 with Classmates.com. With TrueCredit, my mistake cost me $120! I suspect it is a very lucrative move by the companies as they can legally say they informed the customer and it helps them generate more business. I confess I don't like it as I think it is a bit scammish but I realize it is the customer's responsibility to look out for such things. So, the next time you order a membership to something or a product like credit warnings watch out for the automatic renewals. It could end up costing you more than you expected.

Gall Stones

It has been an eventful couple of days for me though to be honest, I wish I could've passed on them. Tuesday, I was feeling fine and working at SHARE when the stomach pains I'd suffered the last five days came back. I took two antacids but they didn't seem to work. I decided to head home early. I got home and took another antacid tablet. Again, I didn't see any improvement. I debated what to do and decided I'd better see a doctor. It turned out to be a very wise decision.

I arrived at the clinic where my regular doctor works and asked if I could see a doctor. I told them I was experiencing considerable stomach pains. To my relief, they got me in to see a doctor. My condition worsened. Less than an hour after arriving at the clinic, I was in serious pain. Later, I became nauseous and began to throw up. The doctor who saw me called an ambulance. I asked for some painkillers and was told I couldn't have any until they had figured out what was wrong with me. The ambulance medics arrived and asked me about my condition. The doctor told them what they knew and I filled in any missing bits. They subsequently rolled me on stretcher out of the clinic to the ambulance. While enroute to Laurel Regional Hospital, my condition worsened further. I began to throw up violently to the point to where blood began coming out of my left ear though I didn't realize it at the time.

The ambulance arrived at the hospital in good time and I was promptly wheeled into the emergency room. There, Dr. Koons examined me and ordered chest x-rays and a sonogram. It was the sonogram that would show the problem. I had at least one gall stone in my gall bladder. It was the stone that was causing my excruciating pain. Dr. Koons promptly called a general surgeon by the name of Dr. Daee who arrived around 10 or 11 p.m. He explained to me that the standard procedure for gall stones was to remove the gall bladder. He said I had to back-up organs that could produce the bile my body needs so losing my gall bladder wasn't a disaster. I agreed to the surgery and it was scheduled for the next day at noon.

While I slept, the gall stone or stones moved and when I woke up the next morning, I wasn't in any pain. I waited patiently for the surgery. The only thing I was afraid of was the stone moving and causing the terrible pain I'd suffered the night before. At 10:50 a.m., I was told the Dr. Daee had been delayed by another case and my surgery was now scheduled for 5 p.m. There was nothing I could do so I accepted it and continued to wait. I also made various phone calls on my cell phone telling my Post Office and Medieval Times bosses what was going on. I also let my Dad and Mom know. Finally, at 3:55 p.m., I was prepped for surgery. I was wheeled down to the recovery room where they put another IV into me. To my annoyance. Dr. Daee was delayed again. I wouldn't actually be operated on until 5:50 p.m.

I don't have any memory of the operation itself. I found out afterwards that they used general anaestesia on me and it definitely worked. I never felt any pain during the operation. They kept me in the recovery room until they felt the anaestesia had worn off. Then, I was wheeled back to my room.

I slept well thankfully. The next morning, I was told I'd see the surgeon and he would determine if I could leave or not. I very much wanted to leave the hospital if possible because I was bored silly, my cell phone battery was nearly drained and I knew how expensive civilian hospitals are. I have the standard retired military health plan called Tricare Prime. I knew it should cover the costs of my hospitalization but I didn't want to make my hospital stay any more expensive then I had to just in case. I remember how much it cost Tricare when I came down with a case of severe bronchitis two years ago. It was a rude awakening to how expensive civilian healthcare is here in the U.S.

I never got to see the surgeon. I guess based on what the nurses told him, he determined there wasn't any need to see me. I was told that I wasn't allowed to do any heavy lifting, to stay away from spicy and fried foods and to see him in a week. Later, I found out from the surgeon's office that I was grounded i.e. no driving either until he gives me the clean bill of health. Luckily, I have lots of movies to watch, reading for the college class I plan to take for the third time (I withdrew twice) and letters to write. I also plan to write some blog entries on some CDs I've bought. Still, it's going to be a boring week.

That sums up my two eventful days. I try to look at this experience positively. At least, I found out what was wrong with me health wise and the terrible pains that came when the gall stone (s) moved won't be coming back. I count myself fortunate to have a very affordable health plan through the military. I'm also grateful to Ray Baldon who very kindly picked me up at the hospital and drove me to the clinic so I could get my car back. I'll have to make sure I do something nice for his family. Lastly, I'm lucky to have family and friends who while they couldn't be there in person were able to give me words of sympathy and encouragement. It turns out my Dad and Mom also had their gall bladders removed because of gall stones. They could fully understand what I was going through and what I could expect. Now, I just need to rest, recover and carry on.

Executioner

I got to play the executioner at Medieval Times for the first time this past Friday. It is the most challenging role I've had so far at Medieval Times. For starters, the executioner isn't allowed to talk. He can only make various grunts as well as use various body movements to make himself understood. The executioner is supposed to be sinister and scary. You only get to see the executioner's eyes and they must instill a slight tingle of fear when they look at the customer. The executioner also makes money for the castle. The castle has a set of fake stocks where people put their head and hands in and the executioner brings down his mighty ax so it looks like they're having their head chopped off. The photos are a neat spoof photo. A number of kids and adults find it fun to get the photo taken. They cost $10 each. The executioner is supposed to help drum up business in that way.

I found the job challenging. I constantly mingled with the customers and sought to put a little fear in the kids. In some cases, it didn't work. I had one cute little girl come up and hug me. Some boys who came for the show gave me high 5's. Still, the kids for the most part seemed to enjoy what I did. I only scared two kids badly which I regretted. My main aim was to make their visit more enjoyable. I want them to come back for another visit. I'd also really like it if they would mention that I helped make their visit more enjoyable on the comment cards which are left by the food servers at the end of the meal. Photo wise, I helped sell seven photos which I thought good for the size crowd we had. The bosses should be pleased about that.

Improvement wise, I need to be more careful about how I handle the ax. It isn't at all sharp but it is BIG and it is conceivable that I could accidentally hit someone with it. I also need to further develop my version of the character. Every person who plays the executioner plays it differently. Each person has to come up with their own unique version as this is the one they'll be comfortable with and most easily play.

I don't know when I'll get to play executioner again. Hopefully, I'll get another go at it sometime soon. I look forward to it as it is a fun and challenging role. It also gives me another chance to do what I can to make the customer's visit an enjoyable experience. That is my ultimate objective. If I do that, I'll be doing my bit in promoting Medieval Times dinner and show.

New Links

I posted some new links on my blog. The first new one is for Old Soldier's blog. Old Soldier is a retired Army warrant officer. He's pro-military and patriotic. As I'm very much pro-military (I very much enjoyed my 26 years in the U.S. Air Force) and think the U.S. is the best country in the world, I very much like his blog and heartily recommend it.

The link to Jack Yan is interesting in that it offers different perspectives on various world events. Jack is a Taiwanese/New Zealand citizen who lives in Wellington, New Zealand. It appears he is something of a celebrity in New Zealand based on some of his blog entries. I can't say for certain as I've never watched New Zealand television. I also gather he is a very successful businessman and is the owner/publisher of the fashion magazine Lucire. I've enjoyed reading some of his comments on various issues. He also talks a lot about branding (product brands like Mars bars and Tide detergent and Rolls Royce cars) as this is one of his great areas of expertise. I confess discussions on that lose me but I like his reading his viewpoints which is why I recommend this site.

The last new link is to Life as a secret agent blog. As far as I know, this interesting lady isn't really a secret agent though she does like spy shows like Alias. She works for Proctor and Gamble (I believe) and is currently living in London. She took the opportunity of a lifetime and agree to a 2-year job posting there. As I seriously love London, she has made me green with envy. I can't wait till I can stroll down Pall Mall, look at the ducks in St. James park and see a theatrical show in the West End again. Her blog is interesting because she tells of her adventures and misadventures in London as well as giving her views on Cincinnati, Ohio. She swears it is one of the greatest cities in the world. I don't know if I agree with her on that but it is neat to read her blog entries on it. If you want to read some interesting posts on London and how an American would see things there, you'll want to check out her blog.

Cindy Sheehan

I read in Old Soldier's blog that Cindy Sheehan had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. I personally feel that this woman is a disgrace to her son. Her son fought nobly for his country and helped the Iraqi people recover from years of terrible oppression under the Saddam Hussein regime. This lady has sought undo all the noble work her son and soldiers like him have sought to do. When she has been criticized for her work, she has answered that her critics had no right to criticize her considering she was the mother of a dead soldier. While we most definitely should show kindness to those who have lost loved ones in the War on Terror, Cindy Sheehan doesn't deserve a free pass. Whereas her son sought to make this world a safer place, she has in her misguided way sought to make it unsafer. I hope Old Soldier's information is wrong. The last thing this woman deserves is a prestigious award for what she's done.

60,000 Mile Servicing

I took my Toyota Camry to the local Carmax dealership yesterday. It was time to get its 60,000 mile servicing done. I got some nasty shocks when I was told that the strut assemblies and drive belts needed to be replaced. All totalled, the bill came to $1,336! Serious ouch!!!!! Hopefully, this will be the last big auto bill for a while. I haven't forgotten what happened with a 1991 Plymouth Laser I owned. Once the warranty went out on that car, every time I went to the dealership, they found another thing wrong with it. As I remember, it was costing me an average of $200 a month in repairs. If that starts happening with the Camry, I'm going to be trading it in quick.

Disastrous Day at Post Office

I had a disastrous day at the Post Office today. I was scheduled to do route 6 and went in around 7:30 a.m. All went well with sorting the mail though there was a heavy load of mail. I ended up with 9 trays and packages. Just before I left the Post Office, I started experiencing some stomach pain. I figured I could tough it out and do the route. I was wrong. The pain got progressively worse. I wondered what was wrong with me. I was afraid I'd come down with something that one of my co-workers there had. I called him and found out he had caught the flu though he was over it now. This seemed somewhat similar in that I was sweating, coughing some and had very bad stomach pains. The worst part was the stomach pain. Still, I tried to carry on and thought I could do the route though I knew I was going to do it slower than normal. From coughing, I started feeling like I was going to throw up. I wasn't happy about that and tried to keep it down. It didn't work. To my horror, I started throwing up right in front of the kiosk mail boxes. I called the Post Office for help because I knew now I wasn't going to finish the route. I also didn't want people seeing a sick mail carrier. As the throwing up continued, I decided to try to drive back to the Post Office. I managed to make it though I was still in pain. I was seriously bummed because this was the last thing I needed to have happen at the Post Office. I've done my best for them and want them to think highly of me. This fiasco isn't going to help me in that way.

I turned in the outgoing mail I had and the one accountable mail I took care of. I turned the keys over to my truck to the supervisor on duty. One lady mentioned about taking some antacids which I turned down. I've never needed to use those that I can remember. I suddenly had to make a fast walk to the bathroom where I upchucked again though thankfully in one of the commodes. Also, thankfully this was the last time I threw up. After that, I managed to drive home where I tried laying down. The pain seem to lessen while laying down but it didn't go away. I decided to consult a home diagnose book I got while in the military. Based on what my symptoms were, it sounded like antacids would solve the stomach pain. I shakily ran over to Wal-Mart and bought a bottle of their ultra antacids. I took two, laid down and waited for them to work. Thankfully, they did. The stomach pain is gone though my stomach is still touchy. I ate some crackers for energy and potato chips for the salt, drank some water to put some fluids back in me, and took another three antacids to keep the stomach settled. I plan to rest tomorrow and hopefully I'll get over whatever it was that caused my stomach to go off. I don't know what set my stomach off and caused me to get sick. I don't think I ate anything outlandish for breakfast that would've set it off. Normally, when I do eat something that sets it off, I'll throw up and the pain will go away. It didn't this time which I think strange. The one bright side of this whole mess is it looks like I don't have the flu. Hopefully, I'll still be in the Post Office's good graces when I return. We'll see.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Soundtrack

The movie The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (LWW) is a movie that I've very much enjoyed. I liked it so much that I bought the soundtrack for the movie. This review are my thoughts on the soundtrack.

One of the main reasons I bought the soundtrack is because I wanted to music to where they introduce the title to the movie. I found that particular piece of music enchanting. I thought it did an awesome job of introducing the movie title. It turned out the score is called Evacuating London. Like the music in the movie, the score on the soundtrack is really nice BUT I would swear it's shorter. This was a real disappointment for me. Another disappointment is the score Only The Beginning Of The Adventure which has its good moments but seems to be a conglomeration of bits. I feel some of them should have been developed further. Some music they put on the soundtrack was a total waste. In my opinion, Tim Finn's Winter Light is a total dud.

Overall, I thought the soundtrack nice BUT I wouldn't rush out and buy it. I found it disappointing though perhaps part of my problem is my standards have gone up since the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) music. I still listen regularly to a CD I made of various scores from the three movies. I love the scores Concerning Hobbits, Evenstar, Hope and Memory, The Return of the King, The Grey Havens, The Breaking of the Fellowship and Annie Lennox's song Into The West. The LWW soundtrack doesn't come close to matching the beautiful music of the Lord of the Rings movies. Hopefully, Disney will produce a better set of scores for the next LWW movie Prince Caspian. We'll see in 2007.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

A friend of mine at Medieval Times told me about a local burger chain called Five Guys. He said they made the best burgers in the Washington D.C. area. I promised him I'd try to check them out sometime. As I was driving home from another frustrating day at the Post Office, I looked up and saw a neon sign saying Five Guys. I thought about what my friend said about a hamburger chain called Five Guys and decided to see if it was one of their restaurants.

It turned out it was. I decided to keep my promise and bought a couple of their regular burgers and a large order of fries. The following are my thoughts on their burgers and fries.

The first thing I was impressed with was the list of free toppings Five Guys has. They have the standard ones of ketchup, tomatoes, pickles, mayonnaise and lettuce. Where they differ from the competition is they offer fried onions, green peppers, sauteed mushrooms, jalapeno peppers, bar-b-que sauce and A-1 sauce.

Another really nice difference is that they use freshly baked rolls for their burgers. These aren't your standard sesame seed buns from McDonalds. These are really good tasting rolls. The last thing I noted that was really nice was that you got two good sized burgers with the regular burgers. The result is that you get one BIG burger for your money. The only bad thing I could find with Five Guys burger was the price. The regular burger will set you back $3.99 each. That isn't cheap.

Concerning their french fries, they advertise that they cook them in peanut oil which has no cholesterol. To be perfectly honest, when I got to eat at a hamburger joint, the last thing I'm concerned about is my cholesterol. Hamburgers joints are not known for their healthy meals and if you're looking for one, you need to eat some place else. The fries themselves are nice and large and not heavily salted. They also weren't dripping with oil. I bought the large size and I thought I got a good size serving. The bad things I found with them were they are pricey. A large size will set you back $3.79. Flavor wise, I didn't think they were anything special. They also offer Cajun style fries which I haven't tried yet.

Another thing I should mention is the soft drinks. As I wasn't eating at their restaurant, I didn't buy one BUT I do think they offer a nice deal in this category. For $1.59, you get a 24 ounce drink WITH FREE REFILLS. I thought this was another really nice deal.

Overall, I think Five Guys sell excellent though pricey hamburgers. I don't see it as a place you could take a family to as it would be very expensive. If you want a really good hamburger and live in the Washington D.C. area, they are a place you should try out.

Maryland Renaissance Festival

I got to attend the Maryland Renaissance Festival today. Initially, things didn't look good. When I woke up, it was raining outside but luckily it stopped by 8 a.m.

I very much like the Maryland festival because I think they do a really good job i.e. excellent facilities, excellent acts, excellent shops and a good range of food for sale. There is something to please all ages and groups at the festival.

I also had something of a shopping list. I wanted to buy a doublet and some type of Renaissance pants so I could look the part of a Lord. I also wanted to buy a pair of leather gauntlets/gloves so I could look the part when I play the Executioner at Medieval Times. For the doublet and pants, I went to the Moresca shop. I've been very pleased with them with the cloak and shirt I bought from them. After checking what they had, I found a doublet that I thought looked all right. I got a shock when I laced the dang thing up. Suck in that gut! Yes, I now what a women feels like when she wears one of those bustier thingamajiggys. I definitely need to start doing some situps so I lose some of my gut. Pants wise, I didn't fair so well and ended up buying a pair of black breeches. They said they would be a bit baggy and I felt ya ya ok. Big mistake, I should've tried them on there. When I got home, I got another surprise. They weren't kidding when they said BAGGY. They're something fit for a clown. I'm definitely going to take them back and try to find something better.

After buying my doublet and breeches, I went in search of my leather gloves. I tried a couple places before arriving at Potomac Leather. I'd bought a leather pouch with strap from them before and well pleased with it. I needed the pouch as the black sweat pants I was wearing with my costume didn't have pockets so I needed something to carry my camera, keys and wallet in. The pouch did the trick.

I told one of the shops salespeople what I wanted and he quickly found it. It turned out they had a really nice pair of black leather gauntlet/gloves. I could've gotten ones with studs on them but I thought that was a bit too much. I also wanted to be able to wear the gloves with my Lord costume so I went with the plain ones. After that, it was time to check out the festival.

I got to see part of the Fight School act which was nice. It's a really nice act. My only complaint is they've been doing the same act for the last two years. Time for some new material guys! I got to watch a comic fake swallowing a very LONG balloon. He then faked popping it inside himself by swallowing a dagger. Yuck! I also took some photos which I plan to post here once I get them developed. Sadly, I didn't get to see the Medieval Baebes. I found out their first performance wasn't until 2:30 and I had to leave by 1:30 as I had to work at Medieval Times today. Damn! After shooting the rest of the roll of film I had in the camera, I decided to have one of those scrumptious smoked turkey legs.

I had no problems finding one of the stands and forked up the four dollars for one. It was as good as ever. It was also fun to munch on it barring having to pull out some of the ? quills maybe, I don't know what you'd call them. Anyway, barring that, it was great to eat one. I also found a stand selling root beer floats. I thought that sounded good so I paid two dollars and got half a glass of root beer and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I wasn't impressed.

Lastly, I listened to a group playing brass instruments. I don't know what they were called but they were very good. Some music sounds wonderful when it's played by brass ensembles. The music these fine musicians played was great. It was a nice finish to my visit.

I plan to go back again. I still have to try to find some decent pants that I can wear in costume with my full length riding boots. I also like being able to wear a cloak and not having people spaz out. I think cloaks are cool and it's neat to watch my cloak flutter as the wind hits it. I also like to wear a costume at the festival. The costume is one of the main reasons I like my new job in sound and lighting at Medieval Times so much. It's a lot of fun to wear it. I'll make sure I post more in this blog when I go back. Cheers my lords and ladies!

Job News

I've gotten good news the past week. I was asked to learn a fourth route at the Post Office. I took this as a compliment. It also means I can work for the Post Office another full week which means another butt kicking paycheck. I told the Post Office I'd be glad to do it. I just want to give the folks at Medieval Times a little breather before I disappear for another week. My boss at Medieval Times has been good to me and I didn't want to mess him over.

I also got a payraise to my surprise from the Post Office. I went from $16.45 an hour to $17.51 an hour. That was really nice news. I just wish the work wasn't so hard. I continue to make newbie type mistakes which can be really frustrating when I'm trying my dangdest to get all the mail delivered and get back to the Post Office. I think I'm getting better BUT I'm just not getting better as fast as I'd like. It makes it something of a battle everytime I go out to deliver mail.

I don't know if I mentioned it or not in previous posts but a second substitute mailman quit at the Post Office where I work. I was really surprised that he quit. I first met him when we were doing our initial processing. He was so enthusiastic when he started. He was also a source of encouragement when I've been struggling at the Laurel Post Office. I have no idea why he quit. It saddened me greatly to hear the news. He was a really nice person. I hope things work out for him where ever he moved on to.

Medieval Times wise, I'll get to learn the job of executioner tomorrow. It should be fun. You get to interact a lot more with the customers and try to drum up business for the spoof picture they tack of people in the stocks. The executioner is supposed to have his tongue cut out i.e. he can't talk so that makes it more of a challenge character wise. I've come up with some ideas for the character but I'll have to run them by the head of sound and lighting to make sure they're all right.

Chancellor wise, one of my co-workers in security may become the second Lord Chancellor. Supposedly, he was asked to read the script and the person in charge of the actors/actresses was impressed. He also has the chancellor look. To create something of a conflict for me, one of my best friends in gift shop is also up for the chancellor part. He also looks the role. I'm glad I'm not the one deciding who going to get the job. They're both super people who have paid their dues at Medieval Times. They both deserve the part but unfortunately only one can get the role. In regards to me doing the role, I was interested it but I have doubts whether I can do it. I still wish I could be a squire. Oh well.

We replaced all the old sand in the arena at the castle. Horses have calls of nature just like people do though unlike people, they let rip where ever they happen to be. Many times, they let rip in the arena during practices and shows. While the squires try to get all the crud up, small pieces do remain in the sand. These small pieces do rot and begin to stink. The castle can spray the sand with some stuff that deadens the smell BUT in time, this fails to take care of the problem. The only thing left to the castle is to replace the sand with entirely new sand. That's what they did this past Sunday. It's incredible how much nicer the new sand looks in the arena. We could have a mini-beach party down there now.

Besides my co-worker who may become the second Lord Chancellor, another person in security may leave. One of the old timers in security (and in my opinion one of the best people they have) has an interview at a chemical plant. I'm hoping he gets the job. It would help his family enormously and the guy deserves a good break. He is a super nice person and a very hard worker. I don't think the folks at Medieval Times have appreciated him as much as he deserves. Hopefully, lady luck will be kind to him and he'll get the job at the plant. We'll see.

All of this means considerable change in security. Personally, I'd like to leave security too but I have found one drawback to working in sound & lighting. The folks in sound & lighting don't get the hours the folks in security get. Pay wise, the two departments are about the same. I'm surprised sound & lighting doesn't have the personnel problems security has at times. I can only guess the reason for that is because working there is more fun and it is more prestigious. Fun wise, you get to wear a costume and be either the dungeon master, executioner, or one of the castle guards. Show wise, you are more a part of the show in sound & lighting than you are in security. The people who work the spotlights, sound system and special effects are crucial to the show. This puts you higher on the ladder than if you're in security. From what I've seen, security is big time at the bottom.

Spotlight Solo

Yesterday, I got to operate spotlight #4 at Medieval Times by myself for the first time. I was surprised when I found out I'd operate a spotlight by myself so soon. Still, I felt confident I could do it. As I'm somewhat hyper, I had to take a number of deep breaths to relax as I was quite nervous doing my first solo operating the spotlight. Operating one isn't super hard but, you do need to concentrate totally on what you're doing. One problem I had with my concentration was I was tired. I'd trained at the Post Office yesterday on rural route 6 for seven hours and then drove to Medieval Times two hours later. To make matters worse, they had someone doing a refresher as far as calling the cues. Whoever he was, he missed a few of them which left me trying to figure out what I was suppose to do. I also had to be careful not to accidentally open the shutter. Two or three times, I did that to my frustration. Overall, I thought I did all right for my first solo. Still, I know I could do better and plan to. Hopefully, I'll get to operate one of the spotlights next Wednesday or Thursday. We'll see.

Medieval Times Update

I got to work security and sound and lighting yesterday. There is no question which I enjoy more. Sound and Lighting is a lot more fun though I get fewer hours with them. Considering that I'll have three days a week with the Post Office, that won't be a problem. I got one surprise when I found out that supposedly, my boss isn't getting any new applications for security. The problem may be the pay. People with previous security experience supposedly see the pay, laugh and walk away. I think the pay is another issue in another way. While I was waiting in line at the Taco Bell Express, I noticed a sign saying help wanted, can start immediately. The quoted starting wage was $7.50 an hour. While I have no wish to work at Taco Bell Express, that is .50 more an hour than what I make at security at Medieval Times. I doubt others will be so picky. To make matters worse, I suspect the hours you'd get there are more secure. The last two weeks, we've had shows that were cancelled. I was released early or told not to come in at all. Because of that, I lost hours. Because of the lack of applicants, I'll be doing double duty at Medieval Times. I'll cover the Dungeon initially then, provide security at one of the posts at the entrance to Medieval Times till the gift shop opens then, revert back to my job in sound and lighting by working one of the spotlights.

Working one of the spotlights in pretty challenging, you have to know where to open the spotlight shutter, continuously adjust the the size of the light as the person you're covering moves around the arena and listen for the command to fade out the light. You also have to watch where you're at in the spotlight booth. The booth is at least 10 feet above the audience and the front of it wide open so the spotlight can have a clear shot on the various actors in the arena. You must stay aware of where you are in the booth. If you're not careful, you could fall out of the booth and come down on one of the tables or one of the customers. Another challenge is changing quickly back into costume. When the show is done, I had to hustle down the ladder from the spotlight booth, dash over to the sound and lighting booth, quickly take off my black long sleeve shirt (Sound and Lighting people must wear all black clothes during the show so we fade into the black ceiling.), put back on my fake chain mail hood, put back on my red overgarment (I don't know what else to call it.), put back on the belt with my axe (The axe is both cool in that it is neat to carry it and annoying as I keep jabbing myself with it. Thank God it isn't sharp!), and rush back to the Dungeon to collect tickets.

I've found covering The Dungeon fun as I get to joke with the customers. I tell them that the ticket guarantees they'll get in but they're on their on getting out. I'll also see some customers and say more food for the dragon. It was a bit unreal when one kid turned out to be something of an expert on dragons. He actually asked me if it was a Chinese dragon or not. I also ask customers when the come out if they found our dungeon suitably nasty. I assure them that we do our very best to keep a well stocked and suitably nasty dungeon. Lastly, I remind customers that we don't loan out any of the items in the dungeon for personal use at home (shades of kinky Suzanne). The customers seem to enjoy the jokes. I continue to be surprised by how many customers check out the dungeon. Last night, we must've had around 100 people check it out. Unreal!

Update on The Hobbit

According to the official Peter Jackson fanclub website (http://tbhl.theonering.net/index.shtml), MGM officially released the list of movies they hope to make and The Hobbit was on it. When Peter Jackson was asked about that, he replied that it was the first he'd heard of it. Jackson said that he'd be very interested in making the movie even though he has a number of projects planned or in various stages of development. I hope the fact that MGM hasn't approached Jackson isn't a sign that they plan to go with someone else. Jackson has the vision and so much of the development work for the project would already be done if they went with him. Interestingly, MGM reportedly plans to make The Hobbit into two movies. I wonder if they're trying to milk the novel for all its worth by doing that. Whatever, it would be awesome just to see the novel made into a real action movie vice the very well done cartoon movie that was made back in the late 70's (see my previous post for my comments on that movie). We'll see if anything turns out from this latest bit of titillating information.

Bad News Good News

I got word that I'm going to be the substitute mail carrier on rural route 6. The news was good and bad or vice versa. Bad in that my weekends will be virtually gone as I'll sub on the route on Saturdays with me also subing on Mondays and Fridays on rural routes 2 and 10. Bad because it's another 9 hour plus route which means another 12 work day for me. I can't wait for the day where I'll be able to do the route in the time that it's been assessed in. Bad because I'll be spending three days next week training on the route and then do the route solo two more. That's bad because that means I'll only be able to work for Medieval Times one day (Sunday) unless I can manage to help the primary carrier get it done on the training days in time to where I can go work at Medieval Times for another 3 or 4 hours. Bad in that I didn't get to do my new job at Medieval Times very long before this came down. Bad because I won't be able to work at all at SHARE during bagging week. Bad in that this route was so stressful that the previous sub walked out and never came back. Something, I've thought about doing at times. The main reason I don't leave the Post Office is because it is the best thing I have going right now. It offers a good future to it and pays really well.

Good first and foremost because it means more MONEY. I'll be guaranteed 26 hours a week now at the Post Office. I'll earn more during those 26 hours than I'd make working 56 at Medieval Times. Good in that it is something of a kudo that they gave me another route. I doubt they'd give me a third route to sub on if I was doing a bad job. (though they may have given me this route because I haven't quit yet, working at the Post Office has definitely taught me perseverance!) Good in that I'll get more experience as a postman.

We'll see how goes. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue to work at Medieval Times in Sound and Lighting. I got to try it a little this past Wednesday and I enjoyed it. Because of the increased hours at the Post Office, I doubt I'll try out for Lord Chancellor. I don't think they'll want someone who can do the part only 3 days a week. Another nice thing about the increased hours is it makes my chances of getting to go on the Globus Scandanavia tour more likely money wise. The big question is will I be able to get the time off from the Post Office. Right now, I don't know. I suspect maybe not but we'll see. I know if I don't get to go on that tour because of the Post Office, I going to be really miffed. We'll see what happens.

Guess Who

If you haven't guessed, it's me in costume. The reason I'm in costume is because I have a new job at Medieval Times. What lead to that was I got tired of working security. Security isn't a very fun job. You have to make sure people don't sneak in, don't do unsafe things like stand on the chairs or leave stuff in the aisles that the food servers could trip over and you have to be an expert on Medieval Times as you are the primary person customers come to for help.

The job I really wanted at Medieval Times was squire but I'm too old to be a squire. The only other job I could think of that I might want to do is Lord Chancellor. The problem with that job is that you are the emcee of the show and I've never been an emcee. You also have to memorize a staggering number of lines. I wasn't sure I could do it. To make matters worse, I got to watch the knights and squires work out and train which tormented me because here was the job I really wanted to do, felt I was qualified to do but, by the rules, I was too old to do it.

After much personal debate, I decided to heck with it. I was going to inform my boss that I was tired of security and was going to leave as soon as he could replace me. Actually telling my boss that I was going to be leaving proved to be a lot harder than I imagined. The fact is my boss at Medieval Times has treated me really well. Also, Medieval Times was the first place that hired me after I retired from the Air Force. For a bit, I was wondering if anyone was going to hire me so I was delighted when they gave me a chance. So, it wasn't easy deciding to leave and having to tell my boss the news.

My boss understood when I told him why I wanted to leave. He asked me to give him a chance to see if he could find something else I could do there. I couldn't imagine what he might find job wise. I didn't care to work in gift shop, reservations, or cash control. Still, because of how he'd treated me, I had to give him the chance.

I got a call from him Friday and he said he'd spoken with the person in charge of sound and lighting. He needed a Dungeon master and Executioner. My ears pricked up real fast when I heard that I could become the Executioner. I thought that would be fun and cool. I would also learn how to operate the spotlights and the sound system. I'd never done anything like it so it promised to be something totally new and challenging. I agreed on the spot to do it. Little did I realize how soon I would get to start.

I was scheduled to work security Sunday afternoon. I showed up, clocked in and went in search of the keys to the security office so I could put on my name plate and get a radio. My boss called me aside and asked if I was still game to do the job in sound and lighting. I said sure. He said good, you're starting tonight! Crap! The head of sound and lighting led me to one of his assistants who took me back to wardrobe where I got issued my costume. No one told me how to put the costume on so I got to figure it out myself. To my embarrassment, I put on the red overgarment you see in the picture backwards. I decided to have the lady who runs wardrobe check to see if I had the costume on right. She realized real quick my mistake and helped me with the costume. She also probably had a good laugh about my gaff. After that, I got to go guard the dungeon and collect tickets from customers who wanted to see it. I was surprised how much business we got. I found out that some nights over 100 people will check out the dungeon.

Just before the show begins, the dungeon closes. I got to watch Post 2 to make sure no one sneaked in. I noticed a big difference with people going by. Some kids wanted to see a little of the show so they could decide if it was any good. I had to tell them repeatedly they couldn't. I suspect they would've taken me more seriously had I been wearing my security uniform. I also had a couple little boys come up and shake my hand. I guess they wanted to shake the hand of one of the castle guards.

Once the gift shop opened, there wasn't any need for me to watch Post 2. I went to the sound and lighting booth where I got to watch the chief of sound and lighting and his assistant operate the strobes, the fog and the various soundtracks. It was interesting to watch. It was also something to watch the show from the booth. The booth has a great view of the show and audience. One thing I discovered the people in sound and lighting must have is a good sense of timing. They must know when to cut in with a certain piece of music and when to fade it out. They also must know certain cues which tell them when to do certain things like activate the fog or strobes. To the chief and his assistant, it was old hat but to me, it was interesting to watch as they carefully timed each segment of the show.

In no time, the show was nearly over and I had to head back out to the dungeon. I opened it up again and collected more tickets. I had to remind myself to call all the customers milord or milady. I now had to play the role of a medieval castle guard whereas in security we don't have roles. I suspect that's because we want people to take us seriously.

The audience cleared the castle quickly and I kept the dungeon open just 35 minutes. After that, I got the key to the security office so I could get my clothes back. Then, I changed back to my security uniform. I helped Dave (another person who works in security) brief two of the new security people on preseating and crowd control. After that, it was time to clock out.

Wednesday, I'll get to learn how to operate one of the spotlights. Sound and lighting operate four spotlights during the show. There is one person operating one of the spotlights who also directs the other three. It'll be interesting getting to learn how the commands and how the spotlight operates. I'll also learn more about the roles I'm supposed to play. First, I'll learn the role of castle guard. Later, I'll get to learn the role of Executioner. Sadly, I won't get to be the Executioner in the show. I found out they have to use one of the knights or squires for that. I will get to be the Executioner who gets his picture taken with people when they pay for the one of the spoof pictures they do at Medieval Times (They have a spoof picture where the person appears to be bound in the stocks and the Executioner is swinging his HUGE axe at them like he's going to chop their head off.) It should be an interesting time. I'm looking forward to learning my new roles and how to operate the spotlights.

9-11

I hadn't planned on posting about 9-11 but I read a post on Jack Yan's blog http://www.jackyan.com/blog/ and decided to write about it. (Jack has an interesting blog and shows a unique perspective on things as he's a New Zealander, you might want to check his blog out. He is also something of a celebrity in New Zealand which is interesting.) Concerning 9-11, I remember it well not because I lost anyone close to it but because I knew as it happened that everything would change. I later realized that 9-11 was just another in a series of attacks on the U.S. The attacks began with the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1991 and continued with the Khobar Towers attack, the attack on the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and the attack on the U.S.S. Cole. I remember the attack on the Cole particularly as I was in the Middle East at the time and heard what happened. It is chilling that the attackers actually drove their suicide boat around the Cole at least once and during that time waved to the sailors onboard the Cole before they rammed it into the Cole setting off a massive explosion that nearly sank the ship. It was only because of truly heroic efforts on the part of its sailors that the Cole was saved.

Like many Americans, I don't think we realized that we were under attack during the first World Trade Center attack, the embassy bombings or the attack on the Cole. It would take 9-11 to hammer that home. I'd finished my assignment in Bahrain in August of 2001 and was sent back to the states. I was busy inprocessing and in a little limbo as the shop I was assigned was reportedly going to be phased out. I was checking in at that shop when someone came over and said that a plane had gone off course and flown into one of the World Trade Center towers. I was stunned. I rushed over to the tv where CNN was broadcasting the event. As I continued to watch, we watched stunned as a second plane flew into the second tower. It dawned on us that there was no mistake when a second plane flew into the second tower. The horror continued as the broadcast showed people jumping from the towers to their deaths. It got worse because 40 or so minutes later, the towers collapsed and fell to the ground. Everyone was in shock. I knew everything had changed though I had no idea what the U.S. would do about it. Because of that event, the U.S. went into the Afghanistan, became friends again with Pakistan and would go into Iraq. 9-11 had enormous repercussions and still does to this day though scarily, some people just want to forget about it.

We can't afford to quickly forget about 9-11 because 9-11 won't be the last attack on the U.S. If the terrorists have their way, it will be just one in a series of attacks as it followed the previous attacks before it. The only reason the U.S. hasn't been hit again is because of the extraordinary efforts of the U.S. military, U.S. intelligence community and the U.S.'s allies. The recent plot in Britain proves that the terrorists have no plans of stopping their attacks. We need to remember that we can defeat the terrorists thousands of times (and we have) but they only need to successfully hit the U.S. once and they will have won. We also need to put aside any political correctness and profile certain groups at airports. We shouldn't be shaking down grandmas and U.S. Marines. (I've heard of this happening and I think it is seriously STUPID!) They're not the ones that are going to try to turn an airplane into a flying bomb. As I've previously mentioned, the terrorists have an entirely different sense of time. To those of us in the U.S., five years is old history and fifty is ancient history. Fifty years is nothing to these terrorists. I can assure you that 9-11 will stay in their mindset for some time and will seem like only yesterday to them. President Bush wasn't kidding when he set that this was going to be a LONG drawn out conflict. Lets make sure we remember 9-11 and realize that we must keep fighting these terrorists. If we forget 9-11, we will be doomed to repeat it in some way in the future.

Lost Passport

I've had some interesting misadventures with my passport recently. The whole thing started when I took my passport with me on my trip to Richmond. I left it out in my room and the cleaning lady found it. She got worried that it might get stolen so she put it in the hotel safe. Later, the folks at the reception desk told me they had it. I subsequently forgot about it being in the hotel safe and enjoyed my visit with my friend Harvey.

Three week later, I decided to find my passport so I could have the things I'll need to prove residency to the University of Maryland. I searched every where and couldn't find it. I remembered vaguely that I might've left it at the hotel in Richmond. I consequently contacted them. They told me they didn't have it. I searched the apartment again and couldn't find it. I had to conclude I'd lost the dang thing.

I checked the State Department website and found out what I had to do concerning a lost passport. You have to file one form informing them of the lost passport, where you lost it, and what you did to try to get it back. You also have to fill out a form as if you were getting a passport for the first time. All totalled, my mistake was going to cost me $102 ($67 for the State Department, $30 for the Post Office to process the application, and $5 for the passport photos at Costco). I wasn't thrilled with that but I accepted it.

I filled out the paperwork, called the Post Office to make an appointment to process the application, and got two new passport photos. I drove out to the Post Office today to get it done. Afterwards, I did some shopping at the Commissary and Post Exchange. When I got home, I found a portfolio I'd planned to use to take all the forms and other paperwork to the Post Office. I could feel that something was in it so I opened it up to see what it was. I had no idea what I'd placed in it. To my disbelief, there was my missing passport. I checked it four or five times to make sure it was the passport I'd searched every where for. It was.

I realized that I needed to contact the Post Office and stop them from sending my application for a new passport in if I could. I tried calling them but couldn't get through. I then hopped in my car, drove back to the Post Office, and anxiously asked if they'd sent my passport application to the State Department. To my relief, they hadn't. I told them to tear up the forms. Since the Post Office had processed my application, they kept my $30. I didn't mind that. I was just glad to have my passport and to not have to file a lost passport with the State Department. I've also heard that it's taking as long as 6 months to get a new passport. I was glad to have one already.

I don't know how the thing ended up in that portfolio. I do know I plan to lock the thing up in my safe. I also know the procedures now if I should ever lose a passport (God forbid). I also plan to write down the number of the passport in case I should lose it. It's very important so the State Department can stop someone from trying to use it. It has been a trying misadventure and one I hope I don't go through again. If you have a passport, make sure you keep it in the same place so you can easily find it. You don't want to have to do what I did though in my misadventure, all turned out well in the end.